A Time-Tested Media Magnet: Doughnuts

Who cares if reporters’ arteries get clogged up, right? A news release said that a ceremony in Compton today would announce the placement of automatic external defibrillators around the city for the benefit of cardiac arrest victims. The news release said that “refreshments, including Krispy Kreme doughnuts,” would be served to the press.

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WHERE WAS THAT? Overdrive magazine reported the other day that a poll of truck drivers found the I-5 and I-10 freeways in California ranked No. 3 on their list of “unspeakably bad” routes.

But at least one guidepost of a few years ago--directing traffic to the mythical kingdom of Sacrafield--has been replaced (see photo).

And so, by the way, has the corresponding sign on the 405 Freeway--the one that showed the way to “Bakersmento.”

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BUT AS FOR SURFACE STREETS . . : Tim Bragg of L.A. noticed a street sign whose spelling took a flight of fancy (see photo).

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HEADLINE AMPUTATION: A newsletter from Long Beach Memorial Hospital omitted one key word from a blurb about free flu shots (see accompanying).

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DISORDER IN THE COURTROOM (CONT.): More excerpts from the amusing and the offbeat collected by Kent Bridwell while he was a commissioner of the Superior Court in the 1980s:

* “Motion of defendants to withdraw as defendants.” (This unique tactic was rejected.)

* “Failure to respond has resulted in problems for counsel for defendant First Los Angeles Bank (hereinafter referred to as FLAB).”

* “Plaintiff was injured by the following product: A watermelon.”

* “Defendant so carelessly . . . operated said premises . . . so as to cause the plaintiff to be injured from an exploding roulette wheel.”

* And, finally, this from a lawsuit written in rhyme alleging the serving of a hamburger that contained a mouse:

“But did defendants ever say, ‘We may have mice, so stay away!’

“And warn the plaintiff, or the rest of us

“These rodents have now got the best of us!”

(No, indeed,

That’s not their creed.)

The outcome of the mouseburger trial has been lost in the mists of history. All I know is it wasn’t made into a movie by Disney.

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MUDDY OLDE ENGLAND: The item here about a typographically challenged weather forecast (It said “skies will be mostly today.”) reminded Dick Peterson of Manhattan Beach of the BBC’s casual meteorology.

Peterson heard forecasts in England over the years of “rain here and there, now and then.” When he visited England last summer “the announcer had added ‘sunny bits here and there.’ ”

miscelLAny:

The USC-UCLA game is Saturday but a glimpse of the rivalry could be seen at the halftime show of the Washington-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl over the weekend. A historical skit by band members showed the “despicable Trojans,” as they were called, being defeated by the ancient Greeks. The fact that the Trojans appeared to be drunk seemed to be a crucial factor. The skit, by the way, was performed by musicians from UCLA and Washington. Apparently the only thing they could agree on was their distaste for USC.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@ latimes.com.